This is a summary of the following sermon transcript.
It is a Tragedy when people HATE the city assigned to them.
We don't solve our problems by 'trade in'. We don't trade in 'problem kids', or a problem marriage, or a problem Jesus or a problem city. Ungodly discontent and blaming the city will simply put your life on pause, poison your world, and leave you wondering what went wrong.

Our City  (Pietermaritzburg) MATTERS to GOD
God called Nineveh a ‘great city’ and Pietermaritzburg is four times that size. God pays attention to our great city. Let us not forget that the Bible begins in a garden, but ends in a glorious city that walls cannot contain. Each city has a mood, a feel, a style, a language, and a philosophy which makes them distinct. Our cities shape our culture far more than local governments do and we absorb our culture 24/7.

How does God relate to Cities
Let us not forget that the Bible begins in a garden, but ends in a glorious city that walls cannot contain and let us also remember that when Jesus speaks of his church he does not call her 'a country lane', but rather a 'city on a hill' that cannot be hidden. You might ask, “Why are we opening sites all over the city?” The answer is simple, “Because God loves our city, all of our city” We should take our line from Jesus with regards to how we relate to our city

God Calls us to our city
It is imperative that we have a 'theology of place.' God has called you placed you in Pietermaritzburg and he has placed Pietermaritzburg people into your life for a reason. God sets you in a city and you get a call from Him. Ungodly discontent or blaming the city will simply put your life on pause, poison your world and leave you wondering what went wrong. When we deny God's sovereign hand in our placement we want to run like Jonah, and that is when the 'tumble weed' cycle begins. Do you know why God has placed you in Pietermaritzburg? You are here to Glorify Jesus in the city and to make him Famous, to be involved in His church and to help lead His people and lead people to him.

God wants us to  ENGAGE our city,  as He does
God is Holy and he hates sin, and we too must hate sin. The sin of the city rises to heaven, but this does not cause God to want to obliterate it, instead it causes God to engage the city. Mother Teresa spent sixteen years as a school teacher in Calcutta. She hated the injustice she saw, however this did not cause her to emigrate, but to rather walk her road of ministry. Martin Luther king hated watching his wife and kids discriminated against, however this did not cause him to emigrate, but rather to change America. What do you hate about Pietermaritzburg? Don't emigrate, engage your city and do something about it.

Conclusion:
I don't want to live longing for yesterday or in vain hope of moving elsewhere another day. Our answer to a dull life is not to relocate to another city, but rather a spiritual relocation. It is our posture before Christ. A posture of knowing we are called to our city, a posture of loving our city, and a posture of engaging our city.

Hi guys, I know there are some serious things to consider this weekend , like the rugby, but I would like to talk to you about your lady. I asked a few guys why they enjoyed their ladies going to the 'Sparkle conference', the answers were obvious.
⁃ For three days she is definitely not shopping at the mall
⁃ For three days I am not expected to be home by four thirty
⁃ I get to eat what I like
⁃ I get supreme control of the TV remote
⁃ My wife comes home having chatted so much that I am not expected to talk
⁃ It makes her happy, and if she is happy, everybody is happy
⁃ Its cool having just Dad and the boys at home.. we can pretend its the jungle
⁃ Somehow she appreciates me more after the 3 days of 'all woman company'

Looking a little deeper you might wonder if one weekend could really make a significant difference in your life. Angus Buchan brought a smile to thousands of ladies faces across our country recently as they witnessed their men transform before their eyes. 'Thursday he left home a drinking, swearing, selfish overgrown boy. Sunday he came home sober, gentle and wanting to take responsibility for his life.' It is possible that a weekend can hugely effect a life and a marriage.

Your lady will encounter Jesus over the 'Sparkle weekend'. She will be ministered to in a unique way, a feminine way, a way in which you can't really minister to her. As for me, I want to see my girls and my wife happy and more in love with Jesus. I believe it is well worth the investment of my time and support. If your wife or daughter hasn't signed up for sparkle yet- why don't you surprise her by insisting that she goes and leaves you with the kids, or better still – sign up on her behalf- that's sure to amaze her.

Cheers for now

Grant
Ps.. Score prediction 'Sharks 26 – Bulls 22'

Relevant Church in a modern world, our "position" in Christ as children of God.

A great question came up in homecell, " Can everyone expect to experience the tangible love of God; a natural demonstrated affection?

To answer one needs to ask, "Is there a Biblical precedent?" I believe there is. The best example is Jesus speaking of the prodigal son and the father. The son was the distant one but the father saw him a long way off, filled with compassion for him, ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. (Luke 15:20) If we think that Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." in John 14:9, then what an incredible picture to have Jesus take children into his arms put his hands on them and bless them. (Mark 10:16) Furthermore if we think of Jesus saying, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these"(Luke 18:16) and to his disciples "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."(Matthew 18:3) then surely there is a place in His arms for us. What an incredible promise in 1 John 3:1 "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" In John 13: 23-25 we see John very close to Jesus being able to rest his head on his chest as he reclined in the upper room at the last supper. It's my thought that we are as close as we want to be. The Song of Songs is all about intimacy between a lover and a beloved, but what a picture of a bride (the Church) and her bridegroom (Jesus) A little aside, "What about affection between believers?" Paul leaving for Jerusalem in Acts 20 kneels down with all of the Ephesian elders and they all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. I believe the Father wants to "love on you".

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Russel Kain,
Russel Kain is a pastor at NCF Church

What do rock stars, smoke and lights have to do with worshipping Jesus:
By next weekend two of our three sites will have had a complete 'atmospherics' face lift. Pot plants are to be replaced by metallic trussing with lights shining through them. Ambient light is to be replaced by a red/ pinkish glow throughout the halls, and the smoke machine will be used when appropriate. The South facility will make a jump from three 4msq screens to a single image 12meters long. You might well ask: why? What do rock stars, smoke and lights have to do with worshipping Jesus? I was in another city last weekend and an elder said to me, "We will never use smoke in our worship because smoke is a sign that the fire is gone". I nearly said to him,"Smoke is a sign that the fire is about to be lit", but I held my tongue because it is not very important. Regardless of where I travel I often hear the comment that the music is too loud. To answer these questions we need to understand why we sing.

Heaven should guide our thinking, instead of 'traditional genres'

I do not suggest that we need to copy the styles recorded in the book of Revelation because they are descriptive, not prescriptive. I am suggesting that the lavishness of heaven should liberate us in our earthly expression. Our style of singing on earth is a far cry from anything we will encounter in heaven. John, in the book of Revelation, suggests that singing is LOUD, accompanied by a brilliant array of light and COLOUR, there is SMOKE, there is a MASSIVE expression of jubilation, as well as moments of silence. Some of the singing is proclamation to people and other singing is prayerful toward God.

I would like to reference two main goals of singing which are recorded in scripture

1) To proclaim God's goodness to other people. Ephesians 5 encourages us to "sing songs to each other". It is a form of evangelism , a form of proclamation. If this is the goal, it makes sense to sing in a language (genre/ style) that the unsaved will understand. Hence the use of modern styles to communicate the message of Jesus. The 'Gregorian chant' will not be listened to by the tattooed skater or the long haired dude wearing skinny jeans. These people have a language all of their own, a musical language which we can redeem and which can carry the gospel of Jesus

2) To talk to God and to be intimate with Him. Worship that is prayerful rises to the throne. This needs to be focused on facilitating a heart connection with God. The words should be pronounceable and easily usable, ideally the songs should be easy to remember so that worship can flow from corporate meetings into our daily lives, without the aid of written words. Some songs in heaven are reasonably simple and repetitive.

The generation Gap.

In Pietermaritzburg (the city in which I live) , 75% of the city is under the age of 35. That places me (42yrs old) in the category of the 'aged' in our city. The vast majority of our cities are of the 'paperless' generation. Their language is techno, their demands are instantly met in cyberspace, they are surrounded by video images and a kaleidoscope of colour. In addition, their singing has found new pathways and expressions that us "old folks" don't understand. This is the language of 75% of our city, this is the doorway into their hearts and minds, we would be crazy not to proclaim Jesus in their language. It is a great joy to us "old timers" to see young people flocking into our meetings. If you are over 35yrs old and a member of NCF , thank you for putting aside your Elvis LP's, your Frank Sinatra cassettes and rejoicing with us as we reach out to 75% of our city.

What is really important?

The content of the song is what is important, the melody is almost irrelevant. The fact that people come to sing is important, the style in which they sing is not a serious matter. We need to keep the main thing the main thing. Our Sunday singing has both a proclamation side to it and an intimate worship side to it. We do not want to ignore either element, we want to speak to our city, this we generally do this in the first half of our meeting. We also want to be intimate with God and this we generally do this deeper into the meeting.

This week I have spent time with pastors from Cape Town, Gauteng and KZN. The common topic of conversation has been "Multi-site Church". I was asked,"How can a church family meet in different venues? wouldn't you loose your values and your relationships?"

To write multi site off as a bad idea would be naive, but to accept that all expressions of "multi-site" are healthy is equally bizarre. Some multi-site churches build separate congregations with their own identity, sense of community and simply connect to the "mother ship" for macro decisions and resources. My view is that this model of leadership is likely to become denominational in the long run, where "head office" imposes decisions void of relational integrity.

An alternative model is that of one church not bound by a building. During the week NCF Church may be found in 150 different homes across the city. Just because we are not meeting at a central venue does not mean that we cease to be NCF Church. This same logic now applies to a Sunday, where we meet in three different locations for seven Sunday meetings as one church. The question then needs to be asked 'if all standing in one room together' does not constitute a church, what does?

What follows is a list of things that weld NCF together as "One Family". Once a church knows what holds it together it can be very adventurous and brave, exploring styles, facilities and methods without fear of disintegrating or loosing their bearings.

• We are united in Doctrine and have one strong Vision.
• We pray together corporately
• We have monthly deacon's meetings together
• Sunday night is a meeting all the sites are invited to
• Events (Men’s meetings, women’s meetings) are done together
• Communications, announcements, e-community is from one hub
• Young Adults and youth join together
• Small groups (cells) are coordinated from a central hub
• Apostolic journeys are done together
• Initiatives for the poor are done together
• One elders team
• One staff team
• One destiny team.
• Twice a year – we meet altogether in a stadium
• The same preaching circulates to all the sites
• The visionary leader circulates to all the sites
• One admin hub
• One finance structure
• Combined evangelism initiatives
• One starting point course for new comers.

I am certain that some of these welds will change in time, but the principle of "One Church" won't. NCF Church is one church NOT bound by time or buildings that loves God and loves people and makes disciples of all nations. One congregation, not multiple congregations. One family becoming like Jesus, on the mission of Jesus, in faith, unshackled by the notion that we all have to meet together in one place all the time to justify our existence.